March 26th, 2009: The cultists are back at it, deep beneath Oerth with the Codex of the Infinite Planes in hand. More insight at the bottom of the page...




D3: Vault of the Drow is easily one of the best and most recognizable modules ever. What's not always talked about is Gary Gygax's colorful, evocative writing in this work. There is probably no better example than his description of the Vault:
"The small 'star' nodes glow in radiant hues of mauve, lake violet, puce, lilac, and deep blue. The large 'moon' of tumkeoite casts beams of shimmering amethyst which touch the crystalline formations with colors unknown to any other visual experience. The lichens seem to glow in rose madder and pale damson, the fungi growths in golden ochres, vermillions, russets, citron, and aquamarine shades. (Elsewhere the river and other water courses sheen a deep velvety purple with reflected highlights from the radiant gleams overhead vying with streaks and whorls of old silver where the liquid laps the stony banks or surges against the ebon piles of the jetties and bridge of the elfin city for the viewers' attention.) The rock walls of the Vault appear hazy and insubstantial in the wine-colored light, more like mist than solid walls. The place is indeed a dark fairyland."

Also, several pairs of the 'magic infravision goggles' used to see the sights in the Vault are sprinkled around early in the module, but they are indeed not magical as the smarter cultist would have his brother believe:
"Two of the husks of recent victims have pinkish cusps still affixed to their eye sockets, and if these remains are examined thoroughly by the party it is 80% likely that both pairs of these lenses will be found even though they are polarized crystal, not magical (and so are undetectable as magic)."

Now what's left to be seen is how the cultists plan on using the Codex to subjugate thousands of Drow. That's one situation Gygax never dreamed of!

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